evans



Feb. 27,- 1923. 1,447,129 G. J. EVANS PRINTING. APPARATUS Filed ma 5, 1919 2 sheets sheet 1 2 sheets-sheet 2 G J EVANS PRINTING APPARATUS Filed May 5, 1919 Feb. 27, 1923.

. occupy the topmost position: on the pile Iandl successively from the :stack or ipile a'iter' pile retainers. .Simil" 1' characters 1 of :reference rrefer to like parts .itihroughout "the :severalv-iewss 39 represents Ea :supporting table avhich formsithe ain body Em rflftme gnfithe ma- Patented Feb. 27, 1923. y

em: -sve e .Q BUFFALO NEW O K- W asarnrrnc AnP-AB T SQ 'npplication'filedMayB, 1919. Serial No. 294,370.

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, GUY J. "EVANS, a

citizen o'f "the United States-residing in Buffalo, in the ounty-0f "Erie and "State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements "in PrintingA paratus, of

which "the following is a specification. This invention {relates to printing apparatus whi'ch is more particularly designed for placing u1e' 'same m-atter brother inscription on a plurality of cards or tags, such "as post cards, notlces of meetlngs, stock quotations, & c.; although this device maybe also used Ifo'r'printing other anatter;

'itlis the obj'ect of' -this inv ntm to produces simple, compact"andkjdurable machinev p duced upon the cards includes a stencil havior this purpose whereb'yla:plurality o'f such cards or tag-s :may' bequiclr ly,- easily and eiiicjiently printed 'withithe same inscriptlon or printed' niatter, .without i necessity of feeding card," tag.or simil-ar article individually to the printing mechanism, but in stead presenting such cards in =the form of a stack ;to thefprintingqmechanisin, softhat the printing of the same can be efi'ected J on the several" cards asfithe same' 'successively thus" merely require sthe cards to be removed the p rinting: of thesame 1 has "beem eifec-ted; "In 'thevaccompanyingfidrawingsz invention.

is, a vertical transverse section ItQkGILOII-IHIIG v55,;Fig 1. Figureffi is' as'fragmentaryatop .plan view oi the supporting table and :the'

p'ile retaining means and aadj acent :parts mounted cit-hereon. Figure 7 1s .afragmentary VGltlOELlfSQCtlOIl, on 13.11 enlarged scale,

nection Wlilh' my :limi-ention. Eigirre'; 9 :is a fragmentary sectional BiQVitfilO'Il showing a modification dfithG iTIIlehinS for elevatingthe chine uponwhich thevarious working parts are'mounted. 'This'table may be mounted in any suitable way, but preferably by means of legs 1'10 secured to the underside of the same'and'having such length thatthe parts of themachine underneath the table are held clear from thesuriace upon which the legs rest. "711i the present case the upper surface of the table adjacent'to the left hand end will be :regarded as the printing place upon .whlcha pile-or. stack oi cards, tags or sim- :ilar sheet-like articles '11 are placed preparatory to receiving the message or other imprint thereon.

I The printing mechanism wherebythis lmprint or jmscrlption 1s pro- .ing afiat-sheet-lilre frame 12 ofpaper or similar stifi' 'material which is provided ad- ;jacent .to its :front edge with a printing inscriptionperforations 15 which may be produced --ther.ein in any suitable .manner.

"This stencilis placed over the several cards as the j-same successively occupy the uppermost position on the pile and when the stencil thus engages the :card an inking deavice .is-ipassedover the :upper side of the :stencilsoasto cause ink'to pass throughthe Figure 11 @is a front *elevationofanwap-:I-pQr Qrate inscription of the 'S enciliz bl proved 'form of Ipri-n tingaapparatusembodying' my invention. iEigure'fQis 5a :top' plan View of the: same. ,FigureaSis-aEfragmentary' endviewof the stencil forming part; of this Figure :14 "is .a alongitudinal sec 'tion taken on line- A i, Fig.2. Figure 5 sheet anddea-ve' an imprint of the same on :the card. *stenciled or imprintedthe same is removed 'from the rtQp O-f the pile and-the operation After each card has been thus repeatedjin like manner on the next following top card until the entire stack of cards, or asqmany ,as desired, have been thus printed.

ZAlthough any suitable inking device may be employed forthis purpose that shown by dottedlines in Fig, 1 and by full linesin Fig. :8, ispi eferredandas there shown the same c0ns1stsof=an inking roller 16" mounted on a frameilr' which has-.a-ihand1e'18 for manipulatingfthe same. i This ink roller is prefrerably'run overtheupper side of the stencil iii-rem the right hand end toward the left hand .iendthered.

In order to limit the 'forward motion of ithe inkrollerover the stencil and prevent :ythesame frointpassing beyond the end ofthe istackxatgtheleft hand side thereof astop is provided which preferably. consists of a {plate 01' La WaILQQsarrange d transversely adsuitable means for thus guiding 1 ends to the side retainer.

jacent to the left hand end of the stack of cards and secured at its lower end to the top of the table.

For the purpose of holding the stack of cards in their proper position upon the table, retaining means for the same are provided which preferably comprise a rear retainer 23 adapted to engage with the top of the pile of cards adjacent to its rear vertical side and having a forward extension 24 at its left hand end which is adapted to engage with the top of the pile adjacent to the left vertical side of the pile, and a lateral retainer 25 engaging with the top of the pile adjacent to its right hand vertical side, these several retainers being preferably constructed of flat material such as sheet metal. several retainers are so lllOlllltGdOIl the table that they are capable of vertical movement thereon and can be adjusted to engage with the top of the pile which may vary'in height and then automatically follow the top of the pile downwardly as the same is reduced in height when successive cards are removed therefrom after being imprinted with a message or other inscription. A

the retainers on the table consists in providing the rear retainer with two upright rear guide rods 26 which are ar 'anged in line length wise of the table and are guided in suitable guide openings 27 in the table and secured at their upper ends to the rear retainer, andv the same engages with the side guide rods 28 so that these rods serve as gages against which the pile of cards is placed for properly presenting the cards to the printing mechanism. As the cards are successively removed from the top of the pile after bein printed the retainers descend in the same measure as the height of the pile reduces, thus maintaining engagement of these retainers with the pile, during which movement these retainers are guided by the rods 26, 28 sliding downwardly through the table.

When the pile of cards becomes exhausted and it is desired to replenish the same at any timethe' retainers are elevated so as to permit of placing additional cards either be tween the top of the table and the retainers or between the cards still remaining on the table and the underside of the retainers. This is preferably accomplished by means which These comprise a vertically movable lifting plate 30 which when idle is arranged below the lower ends of the guide rods 26, 5 38 a suflicient, distance to permit these rods to extend downwardly their fullest extent, but when it is desired to raise the retainers the lifting plate is elevated into engagement with the lower ends of these guide rods, as shown in Fig. 5, and thus enable the retainers to be raised as much as required to permit of placing additional cards in the printing place underneath the retainers. This lifting plate is preferably guided in. its vertical movements by means of a plurality of vertical guide rods 31 passing through the same and secured at their upperends to the underside of the table while their lower ends are provided with stopshoulders or heads I 32 which limit the downward movement of the lifting plate as shown in Figs. 1 and l. The. descent of the liftingplate is preferably effected by gravity. but its rising movement for elevating the retainers is preferably effected by a vertically movablelifting bar which is-guided in a loop 53 on the rear edge of the table and provided at its lower end with a forwardly projecting arm 34L secured to the lifting plate while its upper end is provided with a handle or knob 35 for manipulating the same. If the lifting plate does not readily descend under its own weight the same can belowered bypressing downwardly on the lifting bar. 1

'- Means are provided for automatically lifting the stencil. awaywfrom thetop of the pile of cards so as to permit of conveniently moving the uppermost printed card ,therefrom which means are preferably so constructed that the same may be pressed clownwardly' by the inking device into a position in which the stencil lies close to the uppermost card of the stack preparatory to producing an impression on the same. i

For this purpose the rear edge of the stencil frame is so mounted on the adjacent rear part of the-table that the same is capable of rising'and falling bodily and also swinging vertically relatively thereto in a plane transverselybfthe table. A. convenient means for accomplishing this consists in providing the rear part of the table with ajpair' ofupright guiding and pivoting rods or pins 36 a pair oflpivot' openings 37 in the rear edge portion of the stencil frame. The tilting or vertically swinging action of the stencil is produced by mounting the same on the underside of'acarrier 38 which is of flat form which engage pivotallyand slidingly with thiscarrier is provided with a longitudinal channel or groove 41 which opens rearwardly and receives the front edge of the stencil frame. and the carrier are coupled so thattheyare compelled to rise and tall togetherboglily but are also capable of swinging yertica lly together. The openings 37, 39 in the stencil and carrier are sufficiently large to not only permit the same to slide vertically on the pins =36, 36 but also permit the stencil and carrier to rock thereon. for moving the stencil toward and from the upper side of the stack of cards. "This carrier and stencil mounted thereon are normally held in an inclined position so that the front edges of the carrier and stencil are elevated and the rear edges ofthe same depressed, this being preferably accomplished-by yielding means which in the present ins'tance comprise a lifting arm 42 projecting rearwardly from the-rear edge o f-the carrier and a-weight-43 which is secured to this lifting arm so as to be capable of lengthwise adjustment thereon "by means. of a clamping screw 44.

Preparatory to making an impression on the uppermost card of the plle the retainers are engaged with the marginal portions of the pile at the rear and side thereof and the carrier and stencil are raised at their front edges by the weight 48 at which time the rear part of the stencil rests on the rear retainer 23, this position of the parts being indicated by full lines in Fig. 5. For the purpose of producing an impression of the stencil on the uppermost card, the operator after applying ink to the roller 16' presses the latter downwardly upon the upper side of the carrier so that the same and the stencil occupy a horizontal position close to the top of the pile of cards, as shown by full lines in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and by dotted lines in Fig. 5, after which the attendant runs the inking device across the top of the carrier and the exposed printing surface of the stencil from the right hand end of the same to the lefthand end there of until arrested by the stop 22. During this operation a printed impression of the stencil is produced upon the uppermost card and after this has been accomplished the operator removes the inking device from the carrier and the latter upon being relieved of this pressure immediately is raised together with the stencil'into its elevated position by means of the weight 43 leaving the top of the pile readily accessible For removing the uppermost card therefrom preparatory to printing the next card. As the height of the stack is loweredto the extent of the thickness of each card after each printing operation the retainers automatically follow the reduction in theheight of the stack and hold the latter in place and the stencil and the stencil carrier also au- FBy this means the stencil' tomatically slide down "the guiding and pivoting p in-s inthe same measure vso as to constantly retain it-he same relation :to the top of the stack of the cards regardless of whether the same is high 'orlow. it will be'obvious :trom the foregoingzthat by the use oi this machine it is possible to print a large number of cardsptags .or the like with the same message :in a comparatively short time and \withease and conguiding and pivoting pins 36 after which the stencil can be quickly removed from :thecarrier andreplaced by anotherprepar- .atory to reengaging :the same with these P ns? 7 After the message or other matter has "been printed on one :side of :each card the "same mayibe reyersed andan address prlnted :onlthe opposite sideofgthesame. Thismay be conveniently accomplished '-by :laying the card upon thewright zhand end of the :table with its upper and right hand edges engaging with gages or flanges 20, 21 on the adjacent edges of the table, as shown by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, after which an address stencil 50 may be placed on each card and an impression produced of the same by the inking roller in the same manner in which this was done for printing the message on the back of the card.

Instead of raising the lifting plate 31 by means of the bar 33 this may be effected by the means which are shown in Fig. 9 and which comprise a horizontally movable shifting rod 45 guided in a way 46 on the underside of the table and provided at its front end with a handle 47 and a shifting band 48 passing withits central part around a roller 49 on the underside of the table and connected at the lower end of its vertical lower portion with the lifting'plate 30 while the front end of its horizontal upper portion is connected with the. rear end of the shifting rod 45.

Aside from its simple construction this machine is not liable to get out of order inasmuch as it contains no delicate parts and it is alsovery compact so that the same can be stowed as well as shipped in a comparatively small space.

I claim as my invention:

'1. A. printing apparatus comprising a table having a printing place for receiving a stack of cards or similar articles to be printed, a vertically movable pile retainer resting bygravity on the top of said pile adjacent to one of its vertical sides, means for guiding said retainer on said table including a vertical rod connected, at its. up

per end with said retainer and sliding with its lower part in said table, means for elevating said retainer including a lifting plate engaging with the lower end ofsaid guide rod and a lifting bar guided on said table and connected at its lower end with said plate and provided at its upper end with a handle, and means for producing an imprint on the uppermost cards of said pile.

2. A printing apparatus comprising a table having a printing place for receiving a stack of cards or similar articles to be printed, a vertically movable pile retainer resting by gravity on the top of said pile adjacent to one of its vertical sides, means for guiding said retainer on said table including a vertical rod connected at its upper end with said retainer and sliding with its lower part in said table, means for elevating said retainer including a lifting plate engaging with the lower end of said guide rod and a lifting bar guided on said table and connected at its lower end with said plate and provided at its upper end with a handle, means for limiting the descent of said lifting plate consisting of stop rods secured at their upper ends to said table and provided at their lower ends with heads and passing with their intermediate parts through said lifting plate, and means for producing an imprint on the uppermost cards of said pile. I

3. A printing apparatus comprising a table adapted to support a pile of cards or the like to be printed, a vertically movable pile retainer engaging with the top Of said pile adjacent to the vertical side thereof, and means for producing an imprint on the cards which are successively uppermost on said pile including a printing stencil adapted'to engage the uppermost card on said pile, a vertically swinging carrier which is adapted to engage the upper side of said stencil and retainer and provided on the underside of its front edge with a rearwardly opening channel which receives the front edge of said stencil and a printing opening through which said stencil is eX- posed, upright pivot and guide pins mounted on said table and passing loosely through the rear parts of said stencil and carrier, and a weighted lifting arm projecting rearwardly from said carrier.

GUY J. EVANS. 

